Geospatial Data for the Medieval Road System in the Levant (Bilād al-Šām) from the Project ‘VIA-TARIQ: Analysing the Long-Term Change and Persistency of the Roman Road System in the Levant’

The dataset represents the reconstructed Medieval (Early-Middle Islamic, ca. 650-1517 CE) road network with associated sites (settlements, road stations, forts, bridges, etc.) in the historical region of Levant/Bilād al-Šām. The data were compiled from selected Medieval Arabic geographic sources and published historical and archaeological evidence and previous attempts to reconstruct the Medieval road network in various periods and regions of the Levant. The roads and sites were identified and geolocated using modern and historical satellite imagery and georeferenced topographical maps. By integrating and digitising dispersed historical and archaeological data in a geospatial database the dataset will facilitate further research on the terrestrial transport networks in the Medieval Islamic world and will allow for a large-scale quantitative geospatial and network analyses.